Google PhD New Grad AI/ML Phone Screen Rejection: Most-Talkative-User OOD

Role: Software Engineer, PhD New Grad — AI/ML
Result: Rejected after the phone screen
Report time: February 2025

Coding and OOD: most talkative person from history

The candidate was asked to design an object-oriented solution that identifies the most talkative person from historical data, with several variations.

The interview spent roughly 20 minutes on design before coding. The interviewer challenged detailed choices such as using a set rather than a list and asked for complexity analysis at every stage. The candidate believed each operation had been optimized and used the final ten minutes to check spelling and variable names.

The source does not preserve the history-event schema, method set, output rules, or variations. Those missing details prevent a deterministic practice link.

Process and result

The candidate followed up two days after the interview and received the rejection the next morning. Recruiting declined to provide feedback.

The original discussion speculated about recruiter motives and identity. Those unverified allegations and private identifying details are intentionally omitted here. The only confirmed facts are the candidate's interview description, follow-up timing, and rejection.